


Angel of Healing and Mercy

by Jathis



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Crowley Was Raphael Before He Fell (Good Omens), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Minor Character Death, Noah's Ark, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 11:45:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19356391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jathis/pseuds/Jathis
Summary: Crowley sometimes remembers what he had originally been made for, before the Fall. He thinks about this more during the Flood.





	Angel of Healing and Mercy

The waters continued to rise as the rain came down. The land was completely covered and only the tallest of the trees were still above the water, for now. Soon they would be swallowed up too and then the mountains and then there would be nothing.

Nothing except that one family with their ark and the animals. They were the only ones allowed to live apparently. All part of the ineffable plan as Aziraphale had said.

The thought made Crowley snort derisively, perched in one of the trees for now to watch. What was the point of giving them the ability to choose if all of them, including the children, were killed for it? Why give them the ability to have free will then?

A scream jostled him out of his thoughts and he blinked and peered through the branches of the tree he was in. He had thought all of the humans had drowned by now but he saw that this one had clung to a piece of a roof to last this long. The human struggled with a small bundle, clinging to their makeshift raft as they pushed the bundle up into the branches of the tree. The bundle kept almost falling, distressing the human as they tried to protect it.

Crowley didn’t know why but he reached down, catching the bundle and stopping it from falling into the water. The human stared up at him, eyes wide in fear and confusion. They seemed to calm however when they saw how Crowley held the bundle close, letting out a sigh of relief.

The water washed the human away a moment later, making them disappear from sight.

The demon frowned as he climbed further up, using his wings to keep himself and the bundle dry. Once he was settled he opened it, blinking down at the small baby that lay inside.

_ Why did you make me to be a healer if you meant for them to suffer? What am I supposed to do when the innocent suffer with the guilty? _

Crowley’s chest hurt a little, a burning desire born from his life before the Fall growing inside of him. He was supposed to be a healer...he was supposed to be named Raphael. He wasn’t. He wasn’t Raphael anymore and he most certainly wasn’t supposed to save this child’s life as one either.

He fixed the cloth covering the baby, holding them close to his chest as he spread his wings and took off, searching for the ark.

***

He wondered if a “rain-bow” would be when God tied the rain itself into a lovely bow, promising not to drown everyone again. He supposed it would be a rather comforting thing to see for the humans who had survived. They couldn’t really live if they were constantly afraid of every little drizzle now could they? Nobody was able or willing to give him even a hint of what it would look like and so he was left to wonder as he stood on the deck of the ark that night, looking out at the large expanse of water that spread before him. 

Aziraphale sighed and tried not to remember the screams coming from all of the people not on the ark. He especially tried not to remember Crowley’s worry and disgust at the thought of drowning children. Crowley was a demon after all, demons could not possibly understand the importance of a “rain-bow”.

The soft sound of fluttering wings and someone landing just behind him startled him out of his thoughts. Aziraphale whirled around, braced for a fight if he needed to. Some of those large birds were just so aggressive and…

“Crowley?” Aziraphale frowned, looking around briefly before turning back to the demon. “Crowley, what are you doing here?” He glanced down and winced when he saw small wisps of smoke coming from Crowley’s sandals. The wood of the Ark had been blessed by the Almighty after all to protect the occupants from harm. It would soon burn through the sandals and harm Crowley’s flesh. “You shouldn’t be here…”

Crowley shifted his robes, revealing the baby he held in his arms. “I came to bring this.”

“A baby? Crowley where did you..?”

“Surely someone on this boat could take care of it? Just one small baby? You can’t say a baby has done anything to deserve being drowned, angel!” Crowley reasoned, holding the child out to him.

The angel bit his lip, considering the other’s words. It was only supposed to be Noah and his family that survived, everyone else was supposed to drown. But perhaps…

“If the baby is adopted by one of the wives of Noah’s sons, that would make the baby part of his family and under the protection of God and the ark…” Aziraphale said aloud. He nodded to himself then, looking up at Crowley as he held out his hands. “I’ll bring the baby to them. They won’t say no to an angel bringing them a baby after all!”

He watched the way Crowley breathed out a sigh of relief, willingly handing the child over to him. He held the tiny human close to his chest, mindful of supporting the head and neck as Crowley had done. He smiled at the child and opened his mouth to say something when Crowley spread his wings and took off, leaving behind two sandal prints burned into the deck of the ark.

Later Aziraphale would tell Noah’s family that the angel Raphael had brought them a baby to care for and his heart hurt when he remembered he was only half-lying to them about that.


End file.
